scholarly journals Temporal Coordination and Sonority of Jazani Arabic Word-Initial Clusters

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Q. Ruthan ◽  
Karthik Durvasula ◽  
Yen-Hwei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Pattern ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Temporal Coordination ◽  
Arabic Word ◽  
Moroccan Arabic ◽  
Target Words

Previous research on the organization of syllable-structure, relying on the timing of the articulators suggests that though both English and Moroccan Arabic have word-initial consonant clusters, Moroccan Arabic does not have complex onsets, while English does (Browman and Goldstein, 1988; Byrd, 1995; Shaw et al., 2011). However, typically, such research employs expensive articulatory equipment. This limits the research to those who have access to such technology. Here, we advocate the use of the acoustic measurements with carefully selected stimuli. We conducted an experiment on 7 native speakers of Jazani Arabic, who produced 6 repetitions of 78 target words (34 real, 44 nonce), which varied in the number of onset consonant (C1, C2), and the sonority profiles. Similarly, to Moroccan Arabic, the results show that onset consonant alignments in Jazani Arabic are consistent with the simplex onset organization. Unlike Italian, the temporal pattern of Jazani Arabic remained the same, as simplex onsets across the sonority profiles. The study shows the effectiveness of acoustic measurements as a tool to understand syllabic organization, through studying the temporal co-ordination patterns.

scholarly journals The Syllable Structure of Tiv

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
Elizabeth U. ◽  
Francis I.A.
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Intuitive Knowledge ◽  
Cross River ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Analytical Research

Linguistic studies reveal that every language has a particular way of combining its sounds to form words or parts of words called syllables. The paper looks at the syllable structure of the Tiv language, one of the Bantoid languages spoken mostly in the Middle Belt area of Nigeria, especially in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa and Cross River states of Nigeria. The objective of the study is to investigate the internal structure of syllables in the Tiv language in order to establish the regularities and restrictions inherent in the language. The study, therefore, aims at ascertaining the syllable patterns that are found in Tiv. This study adopts qualitative and analytical research design using the C V tier model of the phonological theory of syllable analysis as proposed by McCarthy (1979) and adopted by Clements and Keyser (1983), to explicate the permissible patterns of syllable structures in Tiv. Data for the study were gathered from native speakers of Tiv, whose language has not been corrupted by urbanisation and the researchers' intuitive knowledge of the Tiv language. It was found out in the study that, some of the permissible syllable structures in Tiv language include vowels and consonants like v, cv, ccv, cccv, cvc. It was also discovered that all the five vowels of the English alphabets may begin or end a syllable in the Tiv language. As found in English and other languages where the sequential occurrence of two or more consonants is termed consonant cluster, the Tiv syllable structure permits two or more consonants at the initial or final positions of the syllable which could occur as onset or coda, but they are not regarded as consonant clusters. They are regarded as co-articulations. The study concludes that Tiv language has a wide range of phonotactic constraints which if studied can contribute to the development of Tiv language.

scholarly journals Dynamic invariance in the phonetic expression of syllable structure: a case study of Moroccan Arabic consonant clusters

Phonology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Shaw ◽  
Adamantios I. Gafos ◽  
Philip Hoole ◽  
Chakir Zeroual
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Electromagnetic Articulography ◽  
Moroccan Arabic

We asked whether invariant phonetic indices for syllable structure can be identified in a language where word-initial consonant clusters, regardless of their sonority profile, are claimed to be parsed heterosyllabically. Four speakers of Moroccan Arabic were recorded, using Electromagnetic Articulography. Pursuing previous work, we employed temporal diagnostics for syllable structure, consisting of static correspondences between any given phonological organisation and its presumed phonetic indices. We show that such correspondences offer only a partial understanding of the relation between syllabic organisation and continuous indices of that organisation. We analyse the failure of the diagnostics and put forth a new approach in which different phonological organisations prescribe different ways in which phonetic indices change as phonetic parameters are scaled. The main finding is that invariance is found in these patterns of change, rather than in static correspondences between phonological constructs and fixed values for their phonetic indices.

Hoe Geef je het Goede Voorbeeld? Woordenschatuitbreiding Met Behulp van Voorbeeldzinnen

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 118-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Stip ◽  
Jan H. Hulstijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Target Word ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Target Words

Two investigations were carried out to estimate the usefulness of the context method for the explanation of word meanings. This method provides the L2 learner with a sample sentence for each target word, without translation into LI. A sample of 100 sentences was selected from a monolingual vocabu-lary learning course book for adult learners of Dutch as a second language (Hart & Polter 1983). In the first study, these sample sentences were presented to 40 educated Dutch native speakers. They were asked to judge the appropriateness of the sentences (i.e. the extent to which the contexts constrained the meaning of the target words). In the second study, the same sentences, from which the target words had been deleted, were presented as a "fill-in-the-blank" test to 20 11/12-year old and 20 17/18-year old Dutch native speakers. In the discussion, it is argued that word meanings can seldom be successfully induced from the context. In general, the context method seems to be an ineffective way for initial explanation of word meanings, frequently causing noncomprehension or miscompre-hension on the part of the learner. However, the context method seems to offer an excellent means for further illustrating word meanings after they have been initially explained by translation.

scholarly journals Syllabification in Moroccan Arabic: evidence from patterns of temporal stability in articulation

Phonology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Shaw ◽  
Adamantios I. Gafos ◽  
Philip Hoole ◽  
Chakir Zeroual
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Temporal Patterns ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Specific Result ◽  
Moroccan Arabic ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Modelling Techniques ◽  
Analytical Tools

AbstractCompeting proposals on the syllabification of initial consonants in Moroccan Arabic are evaluated using a combination of experimental and modelling techniques. The proposed model interprets an input syllable structure as a set of articulatory landmarks coordinated in time. This enables the simulation of temporal patterns associated with the input syllable structure under different noise conditions. Patterns of stability between landmarks simulated by the model are matched to patterns in data collected with Electromagnetic Articulometry experiments. The results implicate a heterosyllabic parse of initial clusters so that strings like /sbu/ comprise two syllables, [s.bu]. Beyond this specific result for Moroccan Arabic, the model reveals the range of validity of certain stability-based indexes of syllable structure and generates predictions that allow evaluation of a syllabic parse even when stability-based heuristics break down. Overall, the paper provides support for the broad hypothesis that syllable structure is reflected in patterns of temporal stability and contributes analytical tools to evaluate competing theories on the basis of these patterns.

The Structural Conformity Hypothesis and the Acquisition of Consonant Clusters in the Interlanguage of ESL Learners

1991 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred R. Eckman
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Language Universals ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Structural Conformity

The validity of two implicational universals regarding consonant clusters was tested in an analysis of the interlanguage of 11 subjects who were native speakers of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. The results were strongly supportive of the two universals, suggesting the possibility that primary language universals hold also for nonprimary languages.

Tashlhiyt's ban of complex syllable onsets: phonetic and perceptual evidence

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachid Ridouane ◽  
Anne Hermes ◽  
Pierre Hallé
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
World Languages ◽  
Syllable Onset ◽  
Perceptual Evidence

AbstractTashlhiyt is famous for its particularly marked syllable structure. Unlike the majority of world languages, including some related Berber varieties, Tashlhiyt allows not only vowels but all consonants – including voiceless stops /t/, /k/ or /q/ – to be nuclei of a syllable (e.g., [tkmi] `she smoked' is analyzed as bisyllabic where the sequence [tk] stands for a syllable of its own with /k/ as the nucleus). A fundamental aspect of this analysis concerns constraints on the syllable onset constituent: complex onsets are prohibited. A consequence of this is that prevocalic consonant clusters are systematically parsed as heterosyllabic, regardless of the sonority profile of the consonants and the position of the cluster within a word or a phrase. This study provides phonetic and metalinguistic data to test this phonological account on experimental grounds. The analysis of these data provides clear evidence that Tashlhiyt disallows complex syllable onsets.

Tonal rules for English loan words in Cantonese

1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Kiu
Keyword(s):  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Loan Word ◽  
Phonological System

It is common knowledge that when one language borrows from another, the borrower often would incorporate the loan words into its phonological system by substituting ‘alien’ sounds by those from its own stock, breaking up consonant clusters to conform to its syllable structure and so on. In general it is not impossible to predict fairly accurately what a loan word would sound like in a language if one is familiar with the phonological systems of the lender and borrower. However, syllable structure and segments are just part of the picture. Other considerations like stress and tone would also be important if one is dealing with a stress language or a tone lauguage. The aim of this paper is to examine English loan forms in Cantonese in order to discover what happens when words from a stress language like English are borrowed into a tone language like Cantonese.

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